Clearbridge Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,070 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 13,185 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $57,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $8.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $954.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,039,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,522. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $423.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.04, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $988.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $947.35. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

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Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.